When Ivan Menezes was at Gleneagles last month for the Ryder Cup, it was a chance for the chief executive of Diageo to rub shoulders with the likes of Alex Salmond, Michael Jordan and Sir Alex Ferguson. Then again, mixing with the rich and famous has become par for the course for Mr Menezes this year as he pushed the maker of Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff further into the super-premium and even “ultra-premium” spirits categories through tie-ups with Sean “Diddy” Combs and David Beckham.

In January, Mr Menezes joined forces again with Combs, the public face of the group’s Cîroc